


Wolfsbane

by WriterJunkie



Category: Victorious (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Magic, Alternate Universe - Werewolf, F/F, Humans vs. Werewolves
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-05-19
Updated: 2020-05-27
Packaged: 2021-03-02 21:01:11
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 4
Words: 13,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/24263254
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WriterJunkie/pseuds/WriterJunkie
Summary: On a search for her sister, Tori finds herself caught up in a centuries-old war bigger than she could ever imagine.
Relationships: Tori Vega/Jade West
Comments: 8
Kudos: 35





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I figured I at least repost this in anyone who wants to read it.

Cat exited the bar through the back entrance, stumbling into the alleyway with a burly six-foot drunk on her left, leaning against her, tripping over his own feet as he followed her. His clothes smelled of musty sweat and his breath of sour ale and cigarettes, everything about him was an unruly concoction of stench that made Cat dizzy. She cringed as she caught the smell of his foul breath.

“H-Hey!” The drunk stuttered, burping just as he tried to open his mouth again. 

Cat cringed. 

“How a-about you come home with me?” 

He peered down at her, his oil-slicked face glowing yellow from the overhead light from the door. Cat put a hand up against the wall to catch herself from his added weight as he pressed farther against her. The drunk chuckled and dipped down, his chapped lips puckered. Cat ducked her head. A sloppy kiss landed on her cheek, the rough scratch of his lips scraped along her flesh. Cat flinched. 

“Come on,” The drunk whined. “Don't be such a tease!” 

Cat jumped when his hand grabbed around her forearm and pulled her toward him. She looked up into enraged eyes. Lost in his anger, he raised his free hand, closed into a fist.

Cat watched him yelp as he was yanked back and thrown three a foot down the alleyway. A groan stirred from the stumbling drunk as he tried to get back to his feet. He shoved himself up by his palms into an upright position. A woman dressed in black with heavy marching boots approached him. Her face furious, but her stride smooth and methodic. 

“Who are you?!” He groaned. 

The point of her leather boots crushed onto his back, rushing the air out of him as his face smacked the pavement and twisted into his upper back. His right arm was lifted up and pulled behind him at a painful angle that left him paralyzed. The woman brushed a strand of black wavy hair from her jaw. Cat stood aside, her hands clasped together, watching them. 

“Where is he?” She said.

“Who?” The drunk whined. 

A sharp pain ripped through his shoulder again as his arm was stretched back tighter. 

“I-I don't know who you're talking about!” He said.

“That's how you want to play it?” 

She smiled, releasing the tug on his arm and lifted her left foot off the ground and slammed down onto the guy's elbow. A sickening snap sounded as he screamed. He whimpered, his arm now bent in the opposite direction of where it should be. She dropped his arm to the floor. With a groan, he rolled on to his side, clutching his broken arm. 

“I can finish off the other one for you if you want. Are you going to tell me what I want to know?”

He laughed. 

“You can't stop him.” He said. “What he wants he gets and you're the top of his list.” 

The man's glazed over eyes smoldered an orange glow. A snarl slipped past his lips and he used his good arm to push himself up to his feet. A strip of brown fur sprouted out of the sides of his face. In his snarl, he revealed a row of inhuman shaped teeth. The beast's left hand swung forward, with his fingers spread out, just as he brought it down to meet against pale soft skin. The woman barely flinched to the attack and let out a roar of her own that came with similar orange glowing eyes and curved canines. Her hands wrapped around the man's neck and slammed him into a nearby wall. The orange glow in his eyes simmered down until brown eyes came back into view. He grinned, seeing three thick lines of red smear her porcelain skin. The victory was disrupted with another slam of his head against a brick wall that made him see a splash of stars. 

“I will find him whether you choose to help me or not. It doesn't matter. I know he's here. I can sense him. That means there are plenty of other followers willing to squeal.” 

She withdrew a knife from her coat pocket. The five inch steel was pushed into his gut. He grunted, feeling an agonizing burn rip through his insides. The knife was yanked out, brought to his face, covered in a thick coat of blood. The woman grinned. 

“S-Silver?” He stuttered. 

The knife was thrust back inside his abdomen five more times before it sliced through his neck. He let out a gasp of his dying breath and slumped forward, gripping onto her shoulders. Using the end of his shirt, the blade was wiped clean before it was tucked back into her coat. The man hit the floor. She made her way back to Cat.

“Are you okay?” She asked. 

Cat nodded. 

“Your face is bleeding.” Cat whispered.

She reached up and brushed a thumb under one of her gashes. 

“The plan didn't work. I'm sorry Jade.” 

Jade took a hold of Cat's wrist and brought it down to her side. 

“Don't worry about it. We can try again.” Jade said.

“Do you need to heal?” Cat questioned. 

Jade looked back to the man slumped on the gravel covered in a pool of his own blood. It would be easier to heal now with him being incapacitated and the two of them concealed in the dark of this alley, stuck between two eight floor buildings meant no one would be around to see them. The pain from Jade's cheek didn't hurt as much as she expected.The warmth of her blood slid down her face and dripped off from her chin. Her window of opportunity closed just as she noticed someone making their way passed the other end of the alleyway. Jade didn't miss the shine of his metal badge pinned onto his navy blue uniform. Casually, he looked into the alleyway, his eye drawn to the body laid out in the open that Jade didn't bother to conceal. 

“Is everything alright?” The officer called. 

Jade placed both hands on Cat's shoulder. 

“We have to go. Do you remember our escape route?” Jade said.

Cat nodded. 

“I'll meet you back home.” Jade promised.

She grabbed onto Cat's arm and ran out the alley together. Their hands broke apart when they stepped on to the sidewalk and went in opposite directions of each other. The cop rushed through the alley. 

* * *

Tori walked through the old elevator lift with a tray of three cups of coffee in hand. Through the threshold of the elevator door, the sounds of grunting and screaming filtering through the abandoned loft apartment intensified. Tori smiled at one of the guards outside the last door on the right. The strong smell of blood wafted into Tori's noise. 

Pushing through the empty room, Tori placed the tray of coffee on the table and walked around before leaning back against it. In the center of the room, Tori watched another blood-covered fist pound onto the hostage's mangled face. She made eye-contact with beady black and bruised eyes, causing the man in front of the hostage to turn around. 

“That's enough.” Tori instructed. 

The shirtless muscular lackey nodded and walked off, picking up a towel from a discarded chair in the corner and wiped his hands clean. A door on the far right of this room opened. Tori walked over to the man tied to his seat left in a bloody mess. The beaten hostage glared up at Tori with disgust. She examined him, noticing that the cuts that decorated his body from weeks before hadn't healed. The cuts were purposely kept shallow to keep him alive. Tori pointed to a set of cuts on his thigh.

“Those might get infected.” She noticed. “He hasn't talked yet, Andre?” 

Tori glanced to her right, watching Andre make his way to the center with Robbie behind him. Andre shook his head. 

“He's a tough one to crack.” He said.

“Coffee's on the table.” Tori announced, before turning back to the hostage.

Empty seething eyes blinked back at her laced with a smoldering hunger behind black orbs. It's been a long three weeks since he's fed. Tori can see the change in his appearance, thinner physic, loss of muscle mass, deteriorated strength, the decline in human speech, an increase of primal communication. The symptoms were there. Tori guessed he had a few days to live, a week the most, if he was lucky. 

“Tell… nothing.” He sputtered, spraying droplets of blood as he spoke through busted lips. 

Tori ran a hand through her hair. This turned into another dead end. The last attack was three months ago. The attacks on humans stopped entirely after. The trail had gone cold. The three week torture had only shown that the organization was more skilled, larger in numbers, and highly trained. The improvement was a massive jump in just two years. A growl roused Tori from her thoughts. 

“I think it's best -- ” 

Tori spun to her left, clamping a hand around Robbie's neck. He let out a choked shriek. Tori sighed, releasing him. 

“Robbie! I told you not to sneak up on me.” 

“I'm sorry.” He gasped, rubbing his aching neck and gulped. 

Robbie held up a shaking hand, presenting a black long box. Tori carefully took it from his hand and removed the lid. She stared at the gray liquid filled needle, resting inside the box then back at Robbie. Tori looked to Andre, who was casually sipping his steaming coffee. He shrugged.

“We've done all we could.” Robbie explained. “He's dying as we speak and it isn't much longer before his brain fries and all he does is growl.”

Tori took the needle in her hands, examining it closer, wearily eyeing Robbie.

“Will it work?” She asked.

It wasn't the first time Tori had come across Robbie's inventions and had been a subject of choice for his countless experiments. Andre wanted nothing to do with anything related to Robbie other than to run over plans of attacks. He preferred to deal with testing new guns. Tori still had a kind streak in her to want to help Robbie. Robbie nodded. 

“It's pure liquid silver. I made it myself. Death will be instantaneous.” He said.

The injection was a lot easier than a gun that was noisy and left behind gunpowder residue. It also drew witnesses and unwanted officials. The needle was worth a try. Tori didn't always do acts of mercy. That depended on the captive, but she was aware overall, of being caught in a bitter century old war meant there were never merciful kills. A quick and easy death was a distant dream for many. Tori handed Robbie back the black box and made her way over to her captive. The same dark and hollow eyes stared at her. She glared at him before jabbing the needle into his jugular and watched the silver fluid pass through the needle and into his flesh. 

Within seconds, Tori watched the man's skin begin to melt and droop to the floor in thick puddles of molten hot flesh and muscle. Just before his entire body could liquify, he exploded into a rain of scattered blood, organs, and brain matter. Tori jumped back, feeling warm remains cover her entire body and Robbie let out a yelp of disgust, seeing that half his body was coated in the similar remains. Andre nearly dropped his cup and grimaced. 

“Aww man that's just nasty!” He cried. 

He noticed the door leading to the hall way open and two trainees entered. Tori let out strings of complaints as she busily wiped her eyes of wet blood and glared at Robbie. 

“Are you kidding me?!” She glanced down at her body. “Something tells me that wasn't supposed to happen!” 

“I-sorry!” Robbie yelled. “I-I didn't know -” 

“Just get me a towel.” Tori sneered. “Right now!” 

Robbie ran into the room he came from. By the time Robbie returned, the two trainees were gone and Andre was on his way to deliver new found news. Tori yanked the towel away from Robbie and cleaned her face first before taking care of her arms and hands. She looked back at Andre.

“I just got some news from one of our sources. He said there is someone who can give us a lead on what we're up against.” Andre said. 

“What's the catch?” Tori asked. 

“This lead is in jail.” Andre said. 

Tori threw her towel at Robbie, smacking it against his face. “That won't be easy with those cops around.” 

Andre shrugged. 

“I'm sure we can handle it.” He looked Tori over with a cringe. “Uh, don't you want to clean up first?” 

“I have spare clothes in the van.” Tori headed toward the door. “Let's go.” 

Robbie pulled the towel off his head and tossed it to the floor just before he wildly smacked the bits of skin that stuck to his face and tangled into his hair. Andre and Tori were in the hallway on the way to the lift. He scurried out of the room, trying to catch up. 

“Hey don't I get to clean up too?” He whined. 

“No!” Tori responded. 

Andre turned back to his teammate with a sympathetic smile in place. 

“You can stay in the van for this one.” 

* * *

“I got this one Hank.” A younger officer assured his coworker. 

Jade looked through the bars of her cell as the officer said goodnight to three of his officers at the door way of the holding room, filled with rows of other cells. She looked back down at her folded hands as he walked back in, stationing himself at his desk. A finger scratched at one of her gashes, releasing flakes of dried blood that crusted around the wound. At least those three slashes were healing. The bleeding had already stopped, but the ache to her new adorned fat lip and black eye still hurt. A tongue darted out to lick at the fresh dot of blood from her split lip. Jade felt herself smile. She could at least say she was a lot better than the officer at the desk that she squared up with. He had two knots on his forehead, a black eye, and his face was completely covered in cuts. It served him right for tackling her and expecting her not to be strong enough to fight back.

Jade carefully watched him, one hand clutching an ice pack over his black eye as he read through one of his files with his good eye. Scanning his uniform, Jade spotted his name tag pinned to the left side of his chest. 

_ Stanley. _

A boring name to match such a boring and average cop. Jade brought her attention back to her cell. It looked sturdy enough to keep her inside, but she doubted it would last long. Stanley dropped his pen and ditched his ice pack before he walked over to Jade's cell. He stopped three steps away from the cell door. Jade glared at him. 

“Are you the only one brave enough to try and get my fingerprints?” Jade sneered.

Stanley smiled.

“No fingerprints for tonight. We do have a med kit in the office though.” He pointed to Jade's face. “That's a nasty gash.”

“I don't like being touched.” Jade rebutted. 

Stanley put a hand to his utility belt in a scowl. Jade looked back at him with the same emotionless face. She knew how their laws worked and she had no problem staying quiet. Jade didn't intend on the nightly visit to be longer than an hour. Stanley shrugged. 

“It's your call.” He went back to his desk, picking up his discarded cup of coffee and came back to the cell. “Do you know why you're here?” 

Jade turned away, staring at the chipped bits of black paint on her nails. Stanley took a long sip of his coffee. The last thing she wanted was a lecture, especially from a young child like him. She rather go through Chinese water torture. 

“You're in a lot of trouble.” Stanley stated. “You killed a man.” 

Jade scoffed.

“You can't prove that.” She rebutted.

“Not yet, but we're doing a full investigation as we speak.” Stanley announced. He sighed and shrugged. “You better get comfortable. Legally, we can keep you in this cell for twenty-four hours.” 

Jade turned back to him and glared. 

“I can guarantee you I will be gone before then.” 

Stanley grinned and took a step forward. 

“Oh yeah?” He said.

Jade stood from her seat, slowly making her way to the cell door. 

“Yeah.” 

She grinned.

“In an hour or less you'll see me out of this cell and I'll complete that new raccoon look I've been working on with your face.” Jade promised.

Stanley glared into icy blue eyes.

“Is that a threat?” 

Jade examined the cell room for the nearest exit. The safest would be the window, granted she was three floors up and she had no idea what awaited her on the bottom, but it was a better option than going out the door. That would be an act of suicide.

“More like a promise.” Jade whispered. 

She felt her hands tense up and her hands spread apart as her skin and the tendons beneath began to stretch and tighten. Her nails grew in length. Jade charged forward, wrapping her hands around the poles of her cell and quickly retreated. 

She glanced at her red, smoking hands, then at the poles of her cell. Stanley smiled at her and took one last chug of his coffee before putting it down on his desk. He sauntered back to the cell with a chuckle and pointed at Jade's reinforced cage. 

“Silver bars.” He stated. “It was my suggestion.” 

Stanley faced the door of the cell, keeping the same three steps distance between him and Jade. 

“You like? You get the special treatment here.” 

Jade noticed Stanley's eyes flicker orange for a second. 

“We know all about you Jade, but as much as I want to put a silver bullet in your head he gave me specific orders to hold you here until his arrival.” Stanley chuckled. “How about it Jade? You up for a way overdue family reunion?”

Jade carefully walked back to the cell bars. 

“I changed my mind.” She mumbled. 

Stanley raised a brow in question. 

“Is that so?” He scoffed. “You decided to join him and get on your knees to beg for forgiveness? I think he's way passed that stage.” 

“No,” Jade corrected. “When I get out of here I'll rip your fucking throat out.” 

Stanley laughed. 

“I'd like to see you try.” 

Jade let out a roar that brought Stanley into another fit of laughter. 

* * *

“This is it.” Andre announced, pulling the car into the parking spot. “Let's just hope these fakes will get us inside, visiting hours are over.”

Tori released her seat belt and stepped out of the car. 

“It's never failed us before.” She said.

From the back of the van, Robbie wobbled his way toward the front, wedging himself between both seats. 

“Hey, when you get to the front desk can you ask for tissues!?” Robbie requested, through the palm of his hand that clamped down on his bleeding nose. 

Tori continued to the police station entrance, completely ignoring Robbie. Andre crouched through the driver seat window and gave Robbie a knowing glance. 

“You shouldn't have looked to the back of the van while she was changing.” Andre scolded. 

“I didn't mean to!” Robbie defended. 

“Right. You mean you were just curious.” Andre laughed, watching Robbie blush. “Anyway, I don't think your nose is broken. I'll bring you back a tissue when we're done.” 

He jogged to the entrance and was gone, leaving Robbie to scramble his way to the front seat while pinching his bleeding nose, in a desperate search for a tissue in the glove compartment.

* * *

Tori and Andre were allowed access to the third floor once they presented a set of fake private investigator IDs. The lady at the desk couldn't see the difference. When they stuffed their IDs away, Tori and Andre headed to the elevator. Tori watched the elevator display the floors they passed on its electronic screen before it slowed down.

Stepping out of the elevator, Tori took note to the row of cops working at their desk sorting papers or reading reports. The two of them cut through and reached the back that led to the station's cell room. 

A single officer was standing adjacent from one of the six cells, talking to one of the cellmates. Before Tori could pick up the sound of the cop's conversation and see the prisoner clearly enough the window behind him shattered. 

The cop took a hold of his gun. He hit the ground before he could face his attacker. His gun was yanked from his hand and his nightstick was picked up from his utility belt then whacked against the back of his head, knocking him to the ground.

Tori witnesses a small red-haired girl rush to the cell only to stop an inch short and stare at the bars. She went back to the motionless cop and searched through his pockets before pulling out a key. The cell was unlocked then kicked open. The small red-haired girl looked over the prisoner and smiled before putting her into a hug. 

The cop on the ground began to stir. Without a hitch, he got to his feet and attacked. The woman dressed in black clothing charged forward, sinking a clawed hand into his neck. The roar that came from her mouth made Tori's legs quiver. Frozen, she witnessed the cop scream just as the hand buried in his neck pulled out the tender flesh of his throat, spraying the floor in red. He hit the ground with a heavy thump. Tori felt the heaviness in her legs disappear and her once paralyzed hands moved again, along with her ability to speak. 

“Hey!” She shouted.

Tori looked over the features of both women just as they ran to the broken window and jumped out. Andre and Tori reached the ledge of the window to see the two cons two feet away and were already on their way down the street. Tori noticed a fire escape railing above her head and pulled the ladder down. She landed on the ground when the ladder was close enough and pulled out her gun from her jacket pocket and fired. 

The taller woman dressed in black shielded the smaller woman, facing her back to Tori. She flinched as two bullets sunk into her skin before she turned around and glared at Tori with glimmering orange eyes. She took a hold of the red-head and dashed. 

“Tori!” Andre called, peeking his head out the window to search for his partner. “Are you okay?” 

Tori looked up. 

“I'm fine.” She nodded. “I think I got her.” 

Andre took a hold of the fire escape ladder and climbed his way down, meeting up with Tori again.

“Come on we can still catch them then!” Andre urged. “If you shot her that means there's a trail!” 

Tori sighed. What other option did she have? Besides facing a dozen questioning cops and being interrogated the rest of the night? Tori looked back at Andre. He nodded. Tori ran in the direction of the two criminals. 

* * *

“Jade!” Cat whimpered. 

The smell of blood was unmistakable. Jade continued to sprint, holding on to Cat's arm as she ran to keep her in sight. 

“Jade!” 

“Let's go, Cat they can't be that far behind.” Jade demanded. 

Cat ripped her arm free from Jade's hand and stopped. Jade faced her with a look of aggravation in place. Cat noticed Jade's burned hands and to the dripping trail of blood from her back. A thin sheen of tears coated her eyes. 

“You're hurt!” Cat said. “Let me see.” 

Jade sighed. 

“Cat, now is a really bad time.” 

Cat sniffled.

“Fine, let's find somewhere to hide first.” 

Jade searched around for a decent hiding spot. They were at the edge of town. It didn't offer a lot of places to hide with most of the streets full of locked up business companies. Jade settled on an old factory building just a block down. She took a hold of Cat's wrist again and ran. 

* * *

“Robbie is on his way with the van.” Andre informed, stuffing his cellphone back into his back pocket.

“We will get to them before he can get here.” Tori assured, sweeping her flashlight along the sidewalk to find the trail of blood. 

“Do you have any idea who that girl was?” Andre asked. 

Tori glanced at him briefly, keeping her eyes on the trail. 

“Which one?” 

Andre shrugged.

“I guess both of them.” He replied.

“I can't say that I do. I haven't seen either of them before. But, one thing's for sure.” Tori sighed. “They weren't human.” 

“Why would our source lead us to another werewolf?” Andre pondered. “It'll only be another repeat of two week's long torture.”

Tori shrugged. 

“It beats me.” She said.

The trail of blood stopped in front of a brick wall. Tori pointed her light along the wall to see smears of red in the shape of messy finger prints. She looked up to the old factory. 

“This is it.” She whispered. 

Andre pressed his back against the wall with his gun pointed up. He looked up to the old fishing factory, seeing the rusty sign with faded letters on it. He wasn't going to question their results, but he wasn't sure if he could do well with the smell of old fish when he got inside. 

Carefully sliding her way to the other side of the factory door, Tori took out a gun of her own.

She nodded at Andre, who stepped forward and kicked the front door in. 

“Let's not kill them until we find out.” Tori instructed.

* * *

Jade managed to pull out the bullet that was located in the curve of her hip, but had to get Cat to remove the second one lodged in her shoulder blade. She didn't need Cat to tell her, but a few inches to the left and it would have gone into her spine. It wouldn't mean instant death, but it would likely be mean paralysis. The only quick relief from that would be that Jade wouldn't feel the pain when the bullet was removed. Jade clenched her teeth as Cat's claw pushed into the wound and pried the bullet out. The bullet was instantly dropped to the ground with a soft  _ clink _ and Cat sucked on the tip of her finger. The bullets were silver. Jade could still feel the effects of the metal inside her even with them finally removed. Cat ran a finger over the wounds, smearing the blood along Jade's back in the process. Jade sighed. 

“That was close.” Jade whispered. 

She looked over her shoulder, seeing Cat still fixated on her wounds. 

“He had someone working at that station. I should have known, but it wasn't like I intended on getting arrested.” Jade said.

Cat frowned, her lips pressed into a thin line. Jade glanced back at her. 

“Cat?” 

“I didn't bring any supplies with me.” Cat pouted, still staring at the oozing bullet holes. “I didn't expect -” 

“It's fine. They'll heal, slowly, but it will heal.” Jade promised. “I'm just glad we're out of there.”

Jade felt the warmth of Cat's tongue run over her wound several times before attending to the hole in her shoulder blade. For the most part, Jade never questioned Cat's unorthodox ways. She was never raised normally to begin with and while Cat would piss Jade off from time to time, being on the run with her for a century and a half had made Jade grown accustomed or immune to Cat's oddities. She was the only real family Jade had left and it beat being alone. Cat had grown attached to the comfort of a pack and was much more embracing of her instinctual side. The opposite nature of their personalities is what made things between them interesting and sometimes work in harmony. Cat licked at the gun wound one last time before pulling Jade's shirt back down. 

“Did that do any good?” Jade scoffed. 

“I think so.” Cat nodded. “It's bleeding less.” 

She ran a red tongue along her lips. 

“You taste different.” Cat tapped a finger to her chin. “Like, something salty and a little sugary.” 

Jade scoffed. 

“You're weird Cat.” 

Jade picked up her jacket and slipped her arms through the sleeves. 

“Are you ready to go? I can heal better when we get home.” Jade asked.

Cat jumped off the old conveyor belt.

“Uh-huh.” 

Jade took a hold of Cat's hand and led her to the ladder, leading to the roof. A bang sounded throughout the empty factory followed by the shuffling of feet. Jade had Cat climb up first before she got on, climbing after her. Cat pushed the door open and stepped on to the roof. Jade came through the square opening after and examined the ground behind her. The blood trail was gone. 

“Come on.” Jade rushed. 

* * *

“They're gone.” Andre groaned. “The blood stops there.” 

He pointed to the conveyor belt. 

Tori looked over the conveyor belt and climbed her way down the balcony before joining Andre in the center of the room. She scanned her flashlight along the floor.

“I don't think it's a dead end.” Tori corrected, noticing a small puddle of blood on the conveyor belt. 

She dipped her finger into the sticky substance. 

“Andre, tell Robbie to come up and bring some of his sample tubes.” 

Andre looked over the puddle of blood. Tori raised a brow at him. 

“Do you think we can identify her?” She asked. 

“It's possible. She lives a human life like the rest of them.” Andre agreed. 

“We'll have to take that chance.” 

* * *

Jade and Cat stepped through the door of their small beat down cabin. A one floor building that kept their bedroom and the living room separate by a single wall that lacked a door. The living room was also where they ate, but lacked any television, and a fireplace was in the corner where they cooked and kept the cabin warm. 

Feeling the chill of their unheated home, Cat made her way over to the fireplace and threw in several fresh logs. Jade took off her coat and hung it on the coat rack near the door. She drew back the curtain to the nearest window and stared at the sparkling city lights.

It would have been too predictable to live in the city. And it wouldn't be any safer, now that Jade knew his followers were everywhere, spreading rapidly like wildfire. 

The outskirts of the bustling town was much more comforting and private. It made it harder to be found and the perfect place to escape. Jade had made sure Cat and her had known the forest well enough should they need to flee if they were under attack. The forest also made it easier to hunt. 

Pulling off her shirt, Jade reached a hand to her back and ran it over the closest bullet hole. She felt Cat's hands pull her into a hug. She turned around, staring down at Cat with a small smile in place. 

“I uh...” Jade frowned. “Hm,” 

She took a deep breath. 

“Back at the police station -” 

Cat smiled and reached up, placing a quick kiss on Jade's chin. 

“You're welcome.” 

She hugged her one last time before pulling off her own top. 

Cat placed her shirt on the kitchen table. Jade looked back at the city lights while Cat continued to remove her clothing. She leaned her face against Jade's bareback. 

“Let's go hunting!” Cat cheered. “We only have a few hours of night left.”

Jade freed the button to her pants and smiled as she heard Cat yell out in glee. Cat wasn't the insane one all the time. 

  
  



	2. Chapter 2

“Well?” Tori asked, hovering over Robbie as he looked through his microscope.

“Will you stop crowding me?!” Robbie whined. “I can't work with you breathing down my neck!”

Tori groaned and paced. She couldn't stay in this room any longer. She had become too edgy since the chase and the disappointment of not finding those two werewolves didn't make Tori's mindset any better. She wasn't used to sitting by and waiting. The action kept her focused and calm, but the trail that went hot and just as quickly went cold didn't settle well with her. Tori started to doubt her source and not just the one that gave her the tip last night, but all of them. It had been so long since she's heard anything worth chasing and now the only thing she had was gone. Not that she wanted to, but considering the lack of activity, Tori had put all her eggs in one basket with those samples.

“You said you would have this done hours ago!” Tori reminded.

Robbie looked away from his microscope.

“I know that, but I didn't expect these blood cells to be this complex!”

“What?” Tori said, walking back over to Robbie's table.

“This blood, it isn't like the usual werewolves I've seen.” Robbie explained. “You see, even though we say they aren't human they still hold similar genes of a human which is why when werewolves shift they stand on two legs instead of four like wolves. But this sample you gave me, it isn't the same as a human.” Robbie let out a heavy sigh and ruffled the back of his curly hair. “The cells even move and reproduce abnormally!”

“So what is it then?” Tori said.

“I'm not sure. My guess is a new line of werewolf hybrid?” Robbie said. “I need to run more test, but there is so few I can do with the little samples I've collected and at the rate of how fast these cells are deteriorating I won't be able to do much.”

“See if you can get a match in our database with that blood first. I would like a name with a face.” Tori instructed, before exiting the room.

* * *

Jade washed away the remains of blood around her mouth and rubbed her hands together in the river. She looked back to the two eaten deer, the bones picked clean, pieces of innards exposed. Jade shivered as ice cold water brushed against her back.

Looking into the reflective surface of the river, Jade watched Cat carefully wash away the dry blood, while she neglected to wash the blood from her own face. Focusing back to her own reflection, Jade realized the three gashes in her cheek were completely gone. The pale white skin once again smooth and soft. Even her black eye and busted lip were healed. When Cat was done Jade reached over to clean up Cat's face and rolled her eyes to see a smear of blood behind Cat's ear and near the curve of her jaw.

“What?” Jade asked, seeing that Cat's goofy grin widen.

“This feels likes we're back at home.” Cat giggled.

Jade flushed away the last of the blood and stood to her feet. Cat followed her, where they reached inside a hollowed out tree that held their spare clothes. Jade made a mental note to restock the tree when she had time. They began to dress in silence. Cat was the first to be done.

“I miss it, you know?” Cat added.

Jade finished the last button of her flannel.

“I know.”

“Do you miss it?” Cat curiously questioned, brushing her hair down with her hand.

“No.” Jade admitted. “We should start gathering wood for tonight.”

Jade tread through a cluster of trees before disappearing.

* * *

Tori grabbed on to the swaying punching bag. She wiped a line of sweat from her brow. The second thing that kept her sane besides eating was sparing and training. The entire day was too quiet and that meant she had no leads to follow. The lack of action was unsettling. The only form of action Tori had was her talk with Robbie, but that was in the morning. Ten hours had passed since then and she still hadn't heard from him. With the punching bag now still, Tori took two steps back and spread her legs apart with her hands up. A right jab connected with the plastic surface of the bag with a loud _slap_. The hit was followed up by a left hook then a spin kick that rattled it into a violent swing. Tori straightened, watching the bag sway and let out a heavy sigh. She brushed a hand under her nose to wipe away another layer of sweat. Even training was starting to lose it's appeal. Quickly, she turned to her left with her fist pushing forward. A hand grabbed her wrist which she countered with a spin kick in the shape of a semi-circle. Tori felt her foot connect with the back of her assailant's knee and sent him to the ground on his back. He laughed.

“Good one.”

“Beck!” Tori called. “I don't -”

“I know.” He groaned, pushing himself into a sitting position. “You don't do well with surprises. Your pretty good with countering from the left.”

Tori offered her hand. Beck allowed himself to get pulled to his feet. He followed Tori to the side of the sparing mat where she opened her gym bag and pulled out a water bottle and a towel. She took two sips from the bottle before putting it back inside her bag and wiped the sweat pooling around her neck and on the bridge of her eyebrows.

“When did you get back?” Tori asked, wiping the remaining sweat from her face.

“Two hours ago. I heard you were busy I didn't want to bother you.” Beck answered.

“Did you find anything?”

“No luck.” Beck frowned, running a hand through his hair. “The trail went cold within two weeks.”

Tori removed her gloves and tossed them into her bag.

“It's been the same here. I think they've gone into hiding.”

Tori's towel was put away and the gym bag was zipped closed. She picked it up into her right hand and slung it over her shoulder.

“Hey Tori,” Beck called. “Uh, maybe we should-”

Tori turned around.

“I'm not going to give up Beck.”

“I know that. I'm just saying that we should put our focus on what's here rather than having Andre or me chase after a hunch that has been leaving us empty handed for months.” Beck clarified.

“She's my sister!” Tori reasoned. “I promised I'd find her and it's exactly what I'm going to do.” Tori brushed a hand under her eye. “She's the only family I have left. After my parents...”

Beck pulled her into a hug.

“Hey,” He placed a kiss on the top of her head. “It's okay. I know how you feel. We all lost someone. That's why we're here, trying to put an end to those things that ruined our lives.”

Beck rubbed a comforting hand against Tori's back.

“Let's go out to eat and get some fresh air.” Beck said.

Tori brushed another set of tears and sniffled.

“I'd like that.”

Beck smiled.

“My treat.”

* * *

Jade brought in the last of the split wood that she had cut herself in the back of the cabin over a tree stump. She calculated how long the fire would last through the night before she had to go and gather again, but it was an estimation she couldn't rely on. What she had was good for a day at least. Inside, Cat had threw in another log to keep the fire running, before looking through the cabinets. Jade noticed that the table and floor was cleaner than usual. It was rare that they cleaned, seeing as they spent most of their time outside and never stayed in one location for long, but Cat had taken a liking to this old cabin for some reason. To Jade's comfort, being in this cabin for more than a week had become uneasy. Jade made her way to the chest located a foot away from the fireplace and opened the lid. She threw the remaining logs of wood inside, not bothering to organize them this time and closed the lid. That made two full chest box it would be enough, for now.

“Jade.” Cat spoke. “We don't have anymore food.”

Jade looked through to open and bare cabinets. She sighed. To keep their kills from drawing attention, Jade had dwindled between living off the land she ventured through and visiting the city every few weeks to stock up on the food they needed. The alternating meals had kept them both in line. Very few deaths were put in their hands since the change, but Jade hated having to walk among people and interact with them. Cat was a lot more bearable than the idiots in a city that didn't know how to mind their own business and keep to themselves when Jade wanted little to do with them to start a conversation.

“I'll go into the city and get some.” Jade promised.

“I'll come with you.” Cat replied.

“Cat it's fine. I'll be in and out before you know it.” Jade said. “Please, stay here.”

Cat nodded.

* * *

“I thought you said we were going out to eat?” Tori asked.

Beck smiled seeing the start of a pout on her face. He stuck his hands into his pockets.

“I also said we're going to get some fresh air. We'll eat after I promise.”

Tori looked to tree after tree that she passed by. The open space and natural setting had put some type of calming affect on her at least. Maybe she did need the fresh air after all.

“It's been a while since I came to a park.”

“It's been a while since you've spent some time to enjoy anything.” Beck commented.

Tori raised a brow.

“I'm gonna go on a limb and say getting some fresh air isn't the only reason you brought me here.”

“You would be right.” Beck held out his hand.

Tori slipped her hand into his without question. Beck lead them through the park, passing through crowds of people jogging, walking, and others that decided to have a picnic for today's warm and sunny weather. They stepped into a clearing down the first hill, Tori nearly fell down, and was presented with a large circular pond full of ducks. Beck made a left, and the pond was gone from sight.

The two of them pushed through a small trail surrounded by trees that made it difficult to see to the other side. The only clear focus was the thin dirt path. It was a lot less crowded on this trail and much more quiet. Beck released Tori's hand when they were half way through the trail.

“So,” Beck started. “What's on your mind?”

“You mean besides last night's lead disappearing on me?” Tori replied. “Everything's good.”

“Tori, I'm not blind.” Beck reminded.

“I'm aware.” Tori said, distancing herself from Beck.

“Fine, if you're not ready to talk do you want to update me on the last few weeks I was gone doing one of your favors?” Beck said.

Tori looked around the trail before speaking. It looked safe enough to share what she knew.

“Andre and I were on a way to meet up with someone our source was convinced would help us with the lack of wolf attacks.”

Beck's face shifted to that of confusion.

“You know, usually lack of a wolf mauling is a good thing, right?” He replied.

Tori stopped walking.

“Not like this. Something isn't right I just know it.” Tori let out a heavy sigh. “I think they're up to something and the reason the wolves have gone into hiding is because they're preparing for something big. The last wolf we took into custody wouldn't give us anything so we had to kill him.”

Tori ran a hand through her hair.

“It's very frustrating. What if what's coming we can't handle it? And Trina,” Tori let out another heavy sigh. “Maybe she isn't-”

“Hey relax.” Beck whispered, placing his hands on to Tori's shoulders. “Whatever is coming we can deal with it. You aren't alone. We're in this together with everyone else. And I'm sure as hopeless Trina may seem I'm sure she's out there taking care of herself just fine.”

Beck smiled, watching Tori nodding in agreement. He reached forward closing the gap between him and Tori. Realizing what was happening, Tori yelped and held her hand up, smacking Beck in the face in the process. He groaned, releasing Tori and put a hand to his nose.

“Sorry!” Tori shouted. “I just...are you okay?”

Blinking back several tears, Beck rubbed his nose and brought his hand out to examine his fingers.

“I'm fine. It's not bleeding, my nose isn't bleeding.”

“I'm really sorry. I didn't mean to hit you.” Tori apologized again.

“It's cool.” Beck put his hand down when the pain subsided. “I should be sorry. I didn't mean to corner you.”

“It's not you, okay?” Tori explained. “I'm just not in the right place to be in a relationship. The only thing I'm committed to is finding my sister and dealing with what's going to happen to us once wolves start attacking again . I can't get that off my mind. Please, don't think it's you?”

“I understand.” Beck nodded. “Let's go get something to eat. There's an exit at the end of this trail.”

“I'd like that.” Tori agreed.

* * *

Jade weaved her way through the crowd with her groceries in hand. She decided to do a light shopping since she didn't have an extra pair of hands to carry more bags with her. The walk back home was short, but Jade had taken caution to taking the least common routes to avoid walking into another fight. That made the travel home longer. It wasn't common for attacks to happen during the day, but she's been in several scuffles in broad daylight, both with humans and her own kind. The humans she can handle. They always wanted money or something valuable, which sometimes Jade gave when she wasn't in the mood to hear them threaten her, others times she beat them silly until they ran away. It was the other type of people that worried her. Lost in her own thoughts, Jade bumped into two people that were beside each other busy talking instead of watching where they were going. The two bags in her hands went stumbling to the floor.

“I'm sorry!” The woman above her blurted.

Jade crouched down to collect the items that fell out of the bags. She glanced up at the idiot that had bumped into her and stared back into familiar soft brown eyes. Jade carefully stood to her feet. She ripped her bags from Tori's hand.

“You're...” Tori watched Jade run down the block, knocking over several people along the way. “Hey wait!”

Tori chased after her, leaving Beck behind.

“Tori!” Beck shouted.

He ran after her, seeing that she wasn't going stop. Neither of them noticed the man watching them from his table outside a local cafe with a smirk in place. He dropped his coffee and placed a few bills on the table before leaving.


	3. Chapter 3

Tori was led through three crowds of shoppers before she entered a clothing department. She wouldn't take on a wolf without backup, but Beck hadn't caught up with her yet and whoever this wolf was Tori couldn't let her escape if she was the only lead Tori had. Tori went with her gut and tore through random shoppers. She scrambled back as a clothing rack was tossed in her direction and ducked as the next one came hurling to her head. Tori watched the rack smash through a display window and scatter on to the street. Tori exhaled, a rush of fear ripping through her. It would be better to not engage in hand to hand combat. Tori charged forward, continuing her chase and made a dash to the stairs. Seeing Jade skid as she tried to gain her footing when she reached the top of the stairs and tried to make a sharp left. Tori took her chance and picked up her speed with her arms out and tackled Jade to the ground. Tori nearly passed out when her face connected with a solid fist at her temple and was easily tossed back. 

Tori huffed.

“You're strong.” 

Lashing out her foot, Tori watched her foot meet with Jade's ankle and sent her crashing to the floor. She took a hold of Jade's arm as she was about to get back up and run. On instinct, Jade's right hand went out and collided with Tori's mouth. The coppery taste of blood filled her mouth. A claw swiped at her shoulder, easily slicing through the sleeve of her T-shirt and cut through her skin. 

“Tori!” Beck shouted, reaching the top of the stairs. 

“Wait, Beck, don't-” 

Jade latched on to Beck's hand and pulled him to the ground. He grunted as his back smacked the floor and Jade rained down a fury of punches to his face. His lip split instantly and his nose broke quickly after. Desperate, Tori whipped out her teaser and pressed it into Jade's back. She screamed, hitting the ground and Beck rolled on to his stomach gasping for breath, spitting out blood. The second the pain stopped pulsing through Jade she turned around and threw a punch into Tori's stomach, winding her. Jade got back up and ran. A hand over her bleeding shoulder, Tori looked over to Beck, across from her, laying on his side and wiping away the blood on his face. 

“Who is she?” Beck panted.

* * *

Jade busted through the cabin door out of breath and jogged into her bedroom. Cat shot out of bed, startled as Jade went through their dressers and started stuffing her duffel bag with clothes. 

“Jade?” Cat whimpered. 

“Cat, pack your things. We're leaving!” Jade demanded, rushing back to her dresser. 

“What?” Cat stood off her bed just as Jade threw her duffel bag on the bed. “Leave? B-But I want to stay.” 

“Cat listen to me,” Jade commanded, speaking through clenched teeth. “We can't stay here any longer! We have to leave right now!” 

“I don't want to leave!” Cat yelled. 

Jade froze. Cat nervously averted her eyes. She had never raised her voice at Jade. 

“It's just...I'm tired of running. I want to live here from now on. Why do we always have to leave?” 

Jade sighed. “You wouldn't understand.” 

“You never explain anything to me.” Cat rebutted. “What are you so worried about?” 

“Alright, fine.” Jade started, facing Cat for the first time. 

She finally noticed the fresh coat of blood on Jade's knuckles. 

“It isn't safe here anymore. I bumped into the girl from the police station. I almost didn't get away. I'm not going to stay any longer to find out what she wants from me.” 

Cat nodded. 

“Okay, we'll leave. But, can it wait until tomorrow night? I'll be more prepared by then.” She requested. 

Jade ran a hand down her face and sighed. “Alright.” 

Cat smiled and hugged Jade. She took a hold of Jade's hand and pulled her into their tiny bathroom, which consisted of a bathtub with no shower head, a small toilet across from the tub, and a mirror-less sink next to the toilet.

“You need to relax.” Cat instructed. “Let's take a bath.” 

Jade didn't bother to protest as Cat began fiddling with the taps to get the water to the temperature Jade preferred. Several minutes of waiting, steam rose from the tub and the water was halfway to the top. Cat began removing her clothes. By then, the tub was full and the faucet was turned off. Jade came in after, leaning against the tub with Cat sitting between her legs. A sigh of relief came from Jade as the hot water began to soothe her tense muscles and wash away her aches. The water swished around as Cat faced Jade and pressed her head on to Jade's chest. 

“Don't be so worried.” Cat mumbled. “I'm not worried.” 

Jade exhaled, feeling her eyes droop. “Why not?” 

“Because I know no matter what you'll always protect me.” Cat said.

Jade looked down at Cat. She felt soft lips against her own in a chaste kiss. Throughout the remainder of their friendship together, Jade had tried to keep her relationship with cat platonic, but there had been times when she had slipped through the cracks. Cat was never interested in taking what they had seriously. She understood how Jade never wanted to. They both had made it clear they weren't looking for a mate. It wasn't unheard of for young pups to fool around, but Jade had a higher status than Cat. She wasn't supposed to associate closely with lower pups, but even Jade's father had broken that code despite already having a mate of his own. If he had seen her now, Jade knew she would be scolded and Cat would be punished because Jade was raised to be proper and to be only concerned with those of similar status as her or higher. Jade let out a heavy exhale into the kiss, frowning at the thought of her father and his care for materialistic objects and his family image. Jade grabbed on to Cat's hips and pulled her closer. She grinned hearing Cat gasp at the close contact of their bodies pressed together. Jade kissed along Cat's neck. Cat positioned herself on to her knees and wrapped her arms around Jade's neck. The side of her face, pressed against Jade's, and the feeling of hot ragged breathing tickled at Jade's right ear. The hand resting on Cat's hips slid down to her thigh. 

“J-Jade,” Cat moaned. “The bed-”

“It's okay.” Jade panted. “We can do it here.” 

Another moan filled the bathroom and Cat trembled against Jade, tightening her lock around her neck. Jade grinned. It's been a while since she's heard Cat cry out lost in bliss. 

* * *

“Everything is in order as you've asked Mr. West.” 

Cutting into his skirt steak, Mr. West looked to his henchman with a content nod. He glanced down at the blueprints carefully. Satisfied, he waved for his worker to leave the dining room. The blueprints were rolled back up and the henchman was gone. The double doors of his dining room opened once again just as he picked up his cup of wine. 

“Sir, you have a visitor.” The servant announced.

Before he could deny his visitor's permission, a young man clad in a navy blue suit and polished leather shoes pushed through the doors. 

“Father,” He curtly spoke. 

Mr. West placed his wine down and removed the napkin from his lap. The gray-haired businessman gave his son an icy glare as he made his way to the table. Mr. West made eye-contact with his servant and snapped his fingers at his plate. Rapidly, the servant came over, taking the plate in his hands and ran out. Mr. West took another sip of his wine.

“What are you doing here, Jake?” 

Jake grinned. “I know where she's hiding.” 

Mr. West cleared his throat and straightened his tie. He's heard that plenty of times. They were either lies or had failed to bring her back. He didn't enjoy failure from his pack and especially from his own children. Mr. West looked behind Jake.

“And, why is she not here?” He asked. 

Jake scoffed. He knew it wouldn't be easy to please him. Mr. West preferred action and facts, not half-ass guesses and failed attempts of success. Jake smoothed back his brown locks. 

“I have a plan.” He added. He watched his father's scowl lift into a faint smile. 

He still wasn't bought, plans were only good if they were put into action. 

“I can bring her to you. I promise. I'll just need some men and some time.” 

Mr. West had no other options. The past attempts to find Jade and capturing her had failed. He's done it a few times himself, but he had raised Jade well enough to know how to evade capture and keep a low profile. What other choice did he have? Jake has been raised well enough and longer than Jade. He was ready. 

“I want her back alive.” Mr. West clarified. 

Jake smiled. “Consider it done.” 

* * *

Tori flinched as a cotton swab doused in disinfectant dabbed at her cut. She was a little disappointed to find out it was going to need stitches, but not as aggravated as not being able to catch Jade a second time. She knew she was lucky to still have her arm attached and she was in better shape than Beck who suffered a broken nose, a fat lip, and a nasty black eye. Robbie cleaned the wound one last time before asking Tori to remove her arm from her ruined top. 

“I can't believe we couldn't catch her!” Tori groaned. “She's a lot stronger than she looks.” 

Andre chuckled. “You're telling me. Beck is lucky he still has his face and he will get to keep both his eyes.” 

Tori frowned, feeling another wave of guilt wash through her. “How is he?” 

Andre shrugged. “He'll be in pain for a while, but he's on some meds now. What were you thinking, trying to take on a werewolf on your own?” 

“I wasn't alone. Beck was with me.” Tori clarified. She cringed as the needle poked through Tori's skin.

“I thought we agreed this chick was no ordinary werewolf? And if she were, Tori you could have gotten seriously hurt!” Andre explained. “We don't know what we're up against anymore.” 

“You're right.” Tori agreed. “I'm sorry.” 

She grits her teeth as the needle poked through the other side of her skin and pulled the skin of her gash together.

“I guess I was just so determined and desperate for answers. I can't deal with us being sitting ducks while we wait for the next attack.” Tori said

“It's all we can do until something fresh falls into our hands.” Andre answered.

Tori let out a small cry as the needle poked through flesh again. She glanced down to her gash, seeing the needle was halfway done. Robbie's steady hands worked as quickly as he could to stop the pain. 

“Robbie, any luck with your test?” Tori asked. 

“I couldn't find her in any of our databases. She escaped jail before the police could get fingerprints.” Robbie answered. 

Tori clamped a hand to her forehead in a groan. “We're back to square one.”

Robbie tugged at the thread weaved into Tori's skin and carefully cut the string. He wiped a salve over the stitches and taped gauze over the wound. Tori put her arm back into the torn sleeve of her shirt. Robbie began to remove his latex gloves and discarded the blood-soaked cotton balls into the garbage bin. 

“Whoever she is, you want to find her.” Robbie rambled. He felt the two pair of eyes on him. “The few tests I did leave me with more questions than answers. I'm almost sure she's a new line of werewolf. I think even her blood holds magical properties, but I didn't have enough time to run any experiments. The samples are destroyed now.” 

“I'll run a few sweeps at our usual spots tonight for any news.” Andre offered. “It's worth a shot.” 

Tori hopped off the examination table. “I'm coming with you.” 

“You can't go around town with that wound. You can re-open your stitches!” Robbie protested. 

“I'm going.” Tori glared. Robbie shrunk on his stool. Tori faced Andre. “We'll meet outside at nine.”

* * *

Cat ran a finger along with the scratch marks on Jade's back. She scooted closer, resting her arm on Jade's hip. Jade felt Cat's lips press on to her neck into a tender kiss. The gentle tickle of Cat's warm breath against Jade's neck made her shiver. Cat's hand continued to trace over the lines of scratch marks. 

“I'm sorry.” Cat huffed. 

Jade opened her eyes, staring at the wall in front of her. She felt Cat smile when her hand took a hold of Cat's, content that her apology was accepted. Jade knew she hadn't intended on hurting her during their throes of passion. It had been too long since they last slept together. Cat was eager and overexcited. The scratches were solid proof of her lack of patience. Cat exhaled, feeling sleep finally catch up to her. She curled in closer to Jade, letting her eyes close. Jade couldn't find herself having a similar and peaceful sleep. The restlessness had left her mind a mess. Her thoughts were still stuck on today's attack. Jade couldn't understand why, but she had questioned her idea on the girl she's seen twice now. What if she wasn't all that bad that Jade made her out to be? The tiny idea had left a string of frustration. All Jade had known is not to trust others, aside from herself and Cat. It had been that way for years. That way of life had kept them both alive. They were getting by with, comfortably fulfilling their needs. Cat didn't care where they lived, so long as Jade was around she was happy. She was happy to have a family of some kind. Why couldn't Jade be the same way? Closing her tired eyes, Jade frowned as she was flooded with images of that brown haired and tan-skinned girl. The one that had shot her, nearly killed Jade, could have killed Cat too, but it bothered Jade the most that her curiosity outweighed her desire to hate her. Through the thick clouds of her thoughts, a brick struck through the window in their bedroom and shattered the glass. Jade instantly jumped to her feet, the violent motion, startling Cat. 

“Jade!” Cat screamed, pulling the blanket to her naked form with her legs pressed up against her chest. 

Jade quickly slipped a T-shirt and shorts. “Stay here!” 

She inspected the window. A thumping knock rattled the cabin door and Cat screamed. Jade took a deep breath through her nose. She frowned, picking up the scent of several intruders. They were surrounded. Jade opened the top draw of her dresser and pulled out a knife. 

“Get dressed.” Jade instructed. “Pack your things and if I'm not back by the time you're done get into the city. I'll meet you there.” 

Jade rushed out the door. She scanned the porch, but couldn't find anything out of the ordinary aside from an endless sight of trees. Jade stepped down the porch and went to the side of the cabin. She barely missed the knife that almost sliced her face. She took a hold of the man's wrist and turned his arm inward, pushing his own knife through his neck. Jade jabbed her knife into his eye, causing him to scream as he fell to the ground clutching his wound. She took her knife back and steadily walked through the dirt barefooted. Jade was careful to not step on any twigs or dry leaves as she came to the back of the cabin. Unknowingly, someone had sneaked behind her and struck her in the back with a bat. Jade nearly lost consciousness when she tumbled to the ground. Still able to think logically, Jade rolled to the right just as the bat went to connect with her skull and sprang back up to stick her knife into her attacker's thigh. The bat dropped to the floor. The brief second of screaming was enough for Jade to come to her feet and stick her knife into the soft flesh between her attacker's head and collarbone. Jade kicked her to the ground. She snorted, watching the woman cry out and clamp her hand over the wound gushing with blood. A steady clap of applause ripped Jade of her blood-rage. She looked to her hand, realizing her knife was still inside that woman's neck. Jade spread her legs and put her arms around, giving them space as her fingers began to shift. The knuckles popping as they grew in length and her nails sprouted out her fingers to the size of five-inch claws. Jade's eyes dilated, the pupil shrinking, and the colors of her iris the dim shade of orange. She watched as Jake made his way to her with two of his henchmen behind him. Jade took a sharp inhale through her nose. She wasn't familiar with this scent. 

“Who are you?” Jade asked. 

Jake chuckled. “You don't remember me?” 

“What do you want?” 

Jake frowned. “You really don't remember me?” He scoffed. “You were always his favorite. I guess you never did have to care about anyone, but yourself.” 

Jade's eyes returned to their normal shade of blue. Slowly, the realization came to her and piled on top of her like a pile of bricks. 

“J-Jake?” 

He grinned. “Now you remember.” Jake flattened the flaps of his trench coat. “It's good to see you again big sis.” 

“What are you...” Jade gulped. “He put you up to this didn't he? What did he do to you?!” 

Jake glared. “He didn't do what I already wanted to happen!” He scoffed. “The day you left, things changed. He gave me what I should have had while all you wanted was to leave the pack and protect those stupid humans! You had no loyalty.” 

Jade laughed. “Oh my god, you're a fucking idiot.” 

Jake's jaw clenched and his eyes flicker a dim orange before turning back to brown. 

“The only idiot tonight,” Jake smiled. “is you.” 

A scream from within the cabin erupted through the forest. Jade's hands immediately shrunk to normal size. Jake's smile widened as he watched her run to the porch.

“Cat!” Jade shouted, zipping through the open front door. 

She halted in the bedroom, noticing that the bed had been flipped on its side and the dresser knocked over. Cat was nowhere in sight, except for a dead werewolf in the middle of the room with her throat slashed and covered in blood. Done by Cat's doing as a last resort of escape. Jade let out a yell of frustration and punched the wall in front of her. From the busted window, an arrow came through, sticking to the wall behind Jade. She noticed a scroll of paper rolled up and tied around the arrow. Yanking the arrow from the wall, Jade got the paper free and opened it. 

_ You know where to go if you want to see her again. _

_ Jake _

Jade crumpled the paper and threw it to the ground. Running a hand through her black locks, she nearly missed the tear dripping down her cheek. She bit her lip to hold back a sob and punched the wall again, this time her fist went through. Jade got her hand free and took her bag. She had nowhere else to go, but she couldn't stay here either, feeling defenseless and trapped. Jade collected what little she had, changed her clothes, and bolted out the door. 

  
  



	4. Chapter 4

“What is this?” 

Jake stared into the disappointing eyes of his father. Mr. West stared back at Cat one more time before turning back to Jake with discontent. Jake gulped, trying to keep his erect stance strong and unaffected by his father's kindling rage. 

“What do you mean?” Jake asked. 

“You promised me you would bring me Jade. I don't know if you are aware, but this isn't Jade.” He hissed. 

“I know that. She will bring Jade to us.” Jake stated. 

Mr. West laughed. “What makes you think Jade cares about an insubordinate pup? She's not fit enough to be the ground I walk on!”

“She smells of Jade.” Jake explained. 

Mr. West glared at Jake. His face pulled back into a snare. Jake felt his legs shake. Mr. West looked back to Cat who quickly averted her eyes once they made contact with him. He laughed. 

“She's messing around with an impure mutt?!” Mr. West screamed. 

He marched his way over to Cat, pinching her chin between his thumb and forefinger and forced her to look at him. 

“Is that true?” 

Cat gulped. 

“Don't lie to me girl!” Mr. West ordered.

“Yes.” Cat whimpered. 

A pang of pain spread through her cheek as the slap rained across her face. Cat stared at her feet, too afraid to look up. This wasn't her home anymore. It had changed, something about it had been off. The fun memories she had of the pack weren't here and the tension from every pack member was alarming. Now Cat knew why Jade always wanted to leave and why she never wanted to come back and didn't miss anything about it. 

“Put her in a holding cell. No one touches her! I want to speak with her later.” Mr. West said.

Cat's arms were put into death-grips and she was dragged out of the manor, toward the backyard. Jake looked back to his father for further instructions, feeling the need to redeem himself for displeasing him.

“You better be right about this because right now I rather have Catarina executed.” Mr. West said.

“Just wait, Jade will come.” Jake vowed. 

“Well, that makes our fifth stop.” Andre droned. “It wasn't very eventful.” 

Andre held the door open as Tori passed through, walking on to the sidewalk. 

“Do you want to do one more patrol before we turn in?” 

It had been a waste of their time as expected. They spent three hours asking for any leads or new information, but it has all been the same. The source either didn't know anything or gave the same information that they already knew. As frustrated as Tori was, and as much as she wanted to smack around the sources that she felt were too scared to give her anything, Tori decided to leave. She wouldn't be any good if her frustration got the best of her. Andre had done what he could to keep Tori cool.

“I'd rather go back home.” Tori denied. 

“Don't be so down.” Andre rested a hand over Tori's shoulder. “How about we go get some drinks? I'm paying.” 

“Alright just one drink.” Tori agreed. 

Jade hesitated to come back to the city, but if she wanted to find Cat this was the place to be. She just had to figure out a way to get someone to talk, but she couldn't waste any time if she still wanted Cat alive. Time was precious and Jade was never a patient person to begin with. She cringed as a cloud of cigarette smoke surrounded her face. The dozens of glaring and curious drinkers watched her enter the bar. Jade knew she didn't fit in. The majority of the bar's crowd were older, scruffy looking males, tinted red skin from the years of excessive drinking. Jade was young, beautiful, nicely dressed. Jade's presence was bound to draw attention. She just wanted it to draw the right attention, so she could be on her way to rescue Cat and give her brother a piece of her mind. Jade stationed herself on a bar stool and called over the bartender.

“What can I get ya?” 

“A bottle of whiskey.” Jade pulled out a roll of bills from her coat and slid it on the counter top. 

The bartender returned with a cup and the bottle of whiskey and took the money from the counter. Jade poured herself the first glass and quickly knocked it back. She cringed feeling the burn of the alcohol travel from her throat to her chest and a foul bitter taste was left in her mouth. She scanned the bar again, struggling to see through the clouds of smoke. If she drank enough someone would have the courage enough to come up to her. Turning back to the table, Jade took another shot, more prepared for its numbing effects. The bartender that had served her finished making another drink and made his way to Jade again. 

“Rough night?” He asked. 

“You have no idea.” Jade replied. 

She picked up another shot glass and chugged it down. 

“Maybe you can help me.” Jade said. 

She put the empty shot glass down. 

“I'm looking for someone. A girl, long brown wavy hair, brown eyes, in her early twenties. Have you seen her?” Jade asked.

She attentively watched the bartender. She took a deep inhale through her nose and carefully poured herself another shot. She was familiar with the scent of fear when it came to humans. She would never get used to seeing them lie so openly. Clutching the sides of the shot glass, Jade slowly glided the cup along the counter, watching the brown liquid rock inside its container. 

“Who is she?” Jade questioned. She picked up the sound of him gulping, thickly. 

“Who?” He responded.

Jade had to hand it to him for not stuttering, despite knowing how terrified he was. Jade rested her chin on to her fist, playing with the glass in her left hand. Her nose involuntarily twitched as the smell of fear intensified. She turned away from the shot glass, locking her pale blue eyes into his. She can see the build up of sweat just above his right eyebrow. 

“This can go either two ways.” Jade stated. “It's your choice. I'll ask one more time. Who is she?” 

The bartender dabbed a cloth at his forehead. Jade took another shot. Defenseless, the bartender backed away from the counter. A soft hand reached out, locking his wrist into a painful grip and yanked him over the counter. The side of his face slammed onto the counter. 

“I-I can't tell you!” He whimpered. 

“Oh, sure you can.” Jade corrected. “I'll tell you what. If you tell me where she is I won't rearrange your face and you can walk out of here without a scratch.” 

The bartender let out another whimper. Jade's hand clamped around his neck. 

“I'm not telling you anything.” 

The counter top rattled as his face smashed onto the marble surface. He felt a gush of blood burst from the gash above his eyebrow. Jade pressed the side of his face into the counter again, the hold on his neck tighter that it made it much more difficult to breathe. 

“I'll ask you one last time.” Jade announced. “Who is she?!” 

Jade felt the cold metal of a gun barrel pressed against her neck and the sound of the gun's safety unlock. 

“Her name is Tori Vega.” 

* * *

It took some time to calm the crowd and convince the bar owner to not call the police. The last thing Tori needed was a repeat of the police station and she didn't intend on letting Jade go this time, now that she had her at gunpoint. She was allowed full access to one of the bar's private booths and Tori apologized to the bartender just as he went to the back to tend to his wound. 

“Give me one good reason why I shouldn't put a bullet through your head?” Tori glared, picking up her can of soda. Jade leaned back into her seat, wriggling her wrist in the set of cuffs. She cringed as her skin made contact with them. Silver cuffs. They came prepared. Jade glared at Tori and looked up at Andre, who stood beside her, checking on the cuffs for the second time. He wasn't convinced they'd keep her in place. Jade kept her eyes to the table in front of her, watching Tori from the corner of her eye take a sip of her soda. Tori put down her can and picked up her pistol from the table rested beside her. She aimed it to Jade's head. Andre shifted his hand to his holster. Jade lifted her head, staring back at Tori, unaffected by the gun in her face. 

“What are you? A Cop?” Jade replied. 

“You can say that.” 

Tori noticed Jade shift uncomfortable in her seat again. 

“How are the cuffs?” Tori said.

Jade glared at her. 

“A little tight.” 

She twisted her arms through them again. 

“I'm not a fan of silver.” 

“And I don't like it when you terrorize humans.” Tori rebutted. 

Jade scoffed. “I was just doing what I had to.” 

Tori glared. “And nearly smashing in skulls is the way to get things done?!” 

“I do whatever is necessary.” Jade smiled. “Humans can be so stubborn.”

Tori scoffed. She was just like the other ruthless werewolves. Just as destructive and as hotheaded.

“Why were you looking for me?” 

“I don't know.” Jade mumbled. 

And it was the truth. Jade had no idea why the first thing that came to her mind since she entered the city was to find Tori. She nearly killed her and Cat, but what struck Jade as odd was why she didn't kill her now that she was chained to a chair. The least she expected was an honest and open conversation, despite Jade not wanting to be open. Tori had insisted on speaking with her. 

“I guess I...” Jade sighed. “Look, are you gonna torture me or not?”

“We're in a bar.” Andre reminded. 

“You humans are too soft.” Jade complained. 

What good were they if they couldn't get the courage to kill her on the spot? She didn't want any help from a bunch of rookies who had no idea what they were doing and couldn't use their own judgment to make the right calls. Jade needed someone strong, someone careless. She also didn't want to spend a month looking for people up to her standards, Cat would be dead by then. Tori was here, she had the resources Jade needed. 

“I need help.” Jade admitted.

Tori's face softened. “Help?” 

She had Tori's attention, now if Jade chose her words correctly she could get Tori to side with her and get the handcuffs that started to cut through her wrist off. As expected, playing on humans' emotions would get somewhere. It was easy for Jade to piece together Tori's soft spot for wanting to help others. 

“They took Cat.” Jade answered.

“Cat?” Tori repeated. 

“Yes, Cat! What are you some fucking parrot?!” Jade screamed. “Cat is my friend.” 

And, leaving it to her temper always ruined her chances. But Jade had spoken the truth, she left it up to Tori to take it for what it was or keep up on her promise of putting a bullet through her head. It would be a lot better than what she had in store for her if she decided to save Cat.

“You mean that little red-head?” Andre clarified. 

“Yes.”

“How do I know this isn't a trick to take those cuffs off you and you'll try to kill us once you're free?” Tori questioned. 

Jade shrugged. She had a valid concern. Jade had given no promises to leave them unharmed and the showdown at the bar wasn't painting her in any better light. She was willing enough to let her get cuffed to this uncomfortable chair, but that was because she had no idea the cuffs themselves were silver. It was the only barrier keeping her from getting up and leaving. She was willing to fight them if that needed to happen.

“Because I know the asshole who took her.” Jade explained. Tori took an absentminded sip of her soda, considering the situation and the consequences of the lack of cuffs around Jade's wrist. “Look, are you gonna help me or not?!” 

“Who has Cat?” Tori pressed on. 

“Richard West.” 

Andre and Tori looked at each other. “What do you know about Richard West?” 

“Richard West is my father.” 

  
  



End file.
